Tattered Remains
by JaphirTheGreenDragon
Summary: After defeating the Blight, Queen Arianne Theirin is called away on Grey Warden business to Vigils Keep. The newly separated mother is determined to find out everything she can about this new darkspawn threat to protect her son. Sequel to Forgotten Verses. Leave me a review and let me know how I'm doing!
1. Apostate in the Keep

_**Back for more Arianne Skye Cousland-Theirin shenanigans?**_

_**If you missed the first installment, Forgotten Verses, I highly suggest checking it out as I reference many of my AU occurances :) You can find it through my profile page and thank you for reading!**_

* * *

After the end of the Fifth Blight the Hero of Ferelden settled in to be Queen beside her husband Alistair. She gave birth to their son, Duncan, 6 months later. Not 2 months after that she was called away on Grey Warden business to Amaranthine. Her 'guide', Mhairi, had come to collect her at Denerim and soon they were almost at Vigil's Keep. As they made their way down the path the Keep slowly came into view and Arianne held a hand in front of Mhairi.

"Wait. Something's not right... There are darkspawn nearby." she said, eyes scanning the immediate area. The warrior instantly became alert.

"I thought it was strange that no one had come out to greet us... But darkspawn? The Blight is over, why...?" Suddenly the pair heard snarls to either side. A genlock leapt at the queen and she neatly drew her short sword and cleaved open its neck. The creature's warm blood spattered her and more appeared.

They fought their way to the gates of the Keep and found a grungy soldier battling a few hurlocks. He smashed the last of them down and turned, jumping at the sight of the queen and her guide.

"I-it's you! The Hero of Ferelden!"

"What's the situation?" she asked, immediately serious.

"I don't r-rightly know, I- the darkspawn have taken the Keep! The Wardens... couldn't stand against them..."

"Good man. I'm retaking the Keep, you stay out here and I will send survivors to you." The man nodded shakily. Arianne and Mhairi broke into the Keep and swept through, killing all the darkspawn they could find.

They ran into a prison block to check for any survivors that may have fled there. Arianne, in the lead, recoiled as she felt the immense heat of magefire. A very young man was standing amidst a pile of darkspawn and a few Templar bodies. Flame sprouted from his fingertips at the last darkspawn in the small room. It screeched and fell with a loud thud. The boy turned around, he couldn't have been more than 19, shaking his hands as if to cool them down.

"Er... I didn't do it." he said, shrugging, "Don't get me wrong though, I'm not torn up about them dying. Biff there made the funniest gurgle when he went down." He motioned to one of the Templar corpses. Arianne stared at him for a moment then chuckled.

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Anders, dear lady. I am a mage and sadly a wanted apostate."

"An apostate? At Vigil's Keep?" Mhairi chimed in.

"We were stopping here on our way back to the tower. Just a short rest, they said, and now they're dead. Such a shame."

"We need to check the rest of the Keep for survivors. From what I saw you are quite a competent mage, we could use your help." Arianne said.

"Then you have it. I can't say I'm fond of these darkspawn but safety in numbers right?" Anders chuckled.

"Are you sure, Commander? He is an apostate..." Mhairi stated, unsurely.

"Mages are the best of friends and the worst of enemies. Plus, I've had my fair share of dealings with mages, we need the help." the queen said.

"As you say, Commander."

Suddenly the group heard loud shouts from down the hall. Arianne paused for a moment, recognizing the voice, then darted off to see if she heard right. Anders and Mhairi followed close behind. The queen entered the room and grinned broadly. Inside stood Ferelden's favorite dwarf fending off a few hurlocks and even an alpha. He turned to see Arianne and waved, momentarily ignoring the darkspawn. Anders fired a few fireballs and the spawn were quickly downed. The red-bearded dwarf sauntered over to Arianne and leaned on the wall.

"Been wondering when you would show up. When these darkspawn appeared I was thinking, 'You just wait till the new Commander gets here, you'll all be spitting yer teeth out yer arses!' Heh, followed the fighting and sure enough, here ya are."

"Oghren?" the rogue asked incredulously.

"He was here when I left; I thought the Wardens would have kicked him out by now." Mhairi said.

"Ah, the recruit with the great rack." Oghren chuckled.

"Yes, a prize for the Wardens, to be sure." Mhairi snarked.

"I know, I know. Too good to be true, right? Hey, who's the mage? Yer boyfriend? Should I leave you two alone?" Mhairi easily ignored the comment and Anders quipped back.

"Wow, a dwarf that smells like a brewery. You don't see that anywhere."

"Hah, a mage comedian. Thought those normally died young." the dwarf hiccupped. Arianne laughed.

"It's good to see you again, Oghren."

"I find that hard to believe." Anders said.

"As do I." Mhairi agreed.

"Come on, let's go introduce some darkspawn arses to my foot. Only polite thing to do." Oghren said.

The now 4 person group went deeper into the Keep until the only place they had left was the catwalks. Arianne paused the group before the door. The taint in her blood warned her there was a particularly nasty darkspawn up ahead. They readied themselves for a fight. A voice snarled as they opened the door.

"...be taking this one gently. We are wishing no more death than is necessary."

Before the creature was a man being held by another darkspawn, "Necessary? As if your kind has ever done anything else!" he spat.

"You are thinking you know of our kind, human? It is understandable. But that will soon be changed."

"Others will come, creature! They will stop you!"

"There it is!" Mhairi called, as the group approached.

The talking darkspawn turned to face them and laughed, "It seems your words be true, more than you are guessing."

"It's talking!" Anders exclaimed. Oghren brandished his axe.

"Well, let's shut it up already!"

"Commander!" the captive identified.

"Capture the Grey Warden, the others, they may be killed." the talking darkspawn ordered. Arianne's group dealt with the other darkspawn on the roof quickly and Arianne took off the leader's head with a spinning flourish.

The captive, now freed, stood shakily, "Commander, I owe you my life." Anders gave the man a quick check over and they began to hear the sound of marching. The man moved to the parapet and glanced down at the gates, "Hmm... soldiers on the road. It seems we have more company. Hopefully they're more hospitable than our previous guests."

The queen gave a nod to her companions and they went back down to the gates to greet the newcomers. A unit of ten soldiers led by, of all people, Alistair, decked out in his 'King' armor. Arianne bowed in front of him and he chuckled, "It looks like I arrived a bit late. Too bad. I rather miss the whole darkspawn-killing thing."

"King Alistair!" Mhairi breathed, kneeling as fast as she could.

"I'd wanted to come and give the Wardens a formal welcome. I certainly wasn't expecting this. What's the situation?"

The man Arianne had saved stood and spoke, "What darkspawn remained have fled, your Majesty. The Grey Wardens who had arrived from Orlais appear to be either dead or... missing."

"Missing? As in taken by the darkspawn? Do they even do that?" Alistair asked.

"I do not know, your Majesty. I know only that we cannot account for all the Wardens"

"I see. And how about you, dear wife? You weren't badly hurt I see?" The king turned back to Ari. She smiled and shook her head.

"Something like this won't bring me down, Alistair."

"See? This is why I married you. You kick ass better than I do!" he laughed, "You have quite the task ahead of you. Really, I'd like to help you fight darkspawn, but you're on your own for the moment."

Oghren burped suddenly, "Hey, what am I? Chopped nug liver?

"From the smell, that's not a bad guess." Anders sniped.

"I came here to join the Grey Wardens, and from the looks of it you could use the extra hands! Where's the giant cup I'll gargle and spit!"

"Of course, Ohgren, you'll be welcome amongst us." Arianne smirked.

"Ha! Well smack my ass and call me Sally. I'm in!" Mhairi grimaced.

"I... suppose all are welcome, in this dire time."

"Joining the Wardens, hey? Well, good luck with that." Anders snorted. A woman behind Alistair stepped up, dressed in full Templar regalia.

"King Alistair! Your Majesty, beware. This man is a dangerous criminal." she said angrily.

Alistair just glanced at her in half-hearted amusement, "Oh, the dwarf is a bit of an arse, but I wouldn't go that-"

"She means me." Anders put in.

"This is an apostate who we were in the process of bringing back to the Circle to face justice!" the knight explained.

"Oh please, the things you people know about justice would fit into a thimble. I'll just escape again, anyhow." he sighed.

"Never! I will see you hanged for what you've done here, murderer!" she shouted. Anders drew back, confused for a moment.

"Murderer? But those Templars were... oh, what's the use? You won't believe me anyhow."

"Was there something you didn't tell me, Anders? Or is she referring to the Templars who were guarding you from before?" the queen asked.

"The guards _he_ killed!" The woman persisted.

"Quiet." Ari ordered, "It seems there has been a misunderstanding. The two Templars set to guard Anders were killed by the darkspawn that attacked Vigils Keep. I arrived too late to help them, finding Anders fighting for his own life. He joined with me to restore order to the Keep. He is no murderer, in fact, he is a hero." This stunned the knight into silence, "I also credit him as an exceptional mage and hereby invoke the Right of Conscription as Commander of the Grey. Anders is to be a Grey Warden."

Finally the Templar found her voice, "What? Never!"

"I remind you of to whom you speak." Arianne said icily. The woman bit down on her anger and bowed slightly.

"If... if your Majesty feels that is best."

"Ha! Way to go, kid! Welcome aboard!" Oghren bellowed.

"Me? A Grey Warden? I guess that will work..." Anders smiled incredulously. Mhairi just sighed again, utterly defeated.

"Congratulations, ser mage. I look forward to fighting at your side."

"Then, if you have everything under control, I will need to take my leave." Alistair interrupted. Arianne turned back to him and placed her hand on his arm.

"Alistair, wait... How is... how is Duncan?" The man smiled down at her warmly.

"Morrigan and Wynne are taking the best possible care of him, but... he misses you, love. As do I." He leaned forward and kissed her lightly, "Finish up this business quickly so you can come home."

"I will."


	2. The First Rulings

"Blimey, Commander of the Grey, right."

"Ah, yes, that's me." Ari chuckled, getting used to her new title.

"A while back, they caught a thief in the Vigil. Took four Wardens to capture him. Gave one of the Wardens a black eye, he did. Half-joking, they said he might make a good recruit." the sergeant chatted. The queen felt like a spark went off in her head.

"Where is he now?"

"He's in the dungeon, ser." she answered.

"Commander?" Anders wondered and was promptly elbowed by Oghren.

"Don't question her." he whispered, drunkenly. The young man feigned astonishment.

"Never!"

Ari smiled at the two, turning back to the woman and gestured to her to lead the way. In the dungeon, Arianne froze as she saw the man slumped in his cell. Her mind flew back to when she was young, when the Howe's had been her family's friends. Thomas, the eldest, had been great friends with Fergus, being the same age, while Delilah and Nathaniel spent a lot of time with Ari. They had stopped visiting when she was a teenager and during the Blight, she found out why. Arl Rendon Howe had been after her father's teyrnir and had killed her parents and everyone in the castle when he had taken it over. Arianne had killed him the next time they met. She had always wondered what happened to the Howe children and now, in front of her sat Nathaniel.

"Na-Nate?" she whispered in astonishment. He stood and dusted himself off slowly.

"Warden." The sting in his voice was apparent, "If it isn't the great hero, conqueror of the Blight and vanquisher of all evil. Aren't you supposed to be ten feet tall, with lightning bolts shooting out of your eyes? I, however, know you as the one who murdered my father."

Arianne averted her eyes, a pained expression crossing her face, "That..."

"You know, I thought maybe you'd have some clever explanation, some reason. Something that said my father wasn't killed just for defying the 'all mighty Wardens'. But looking at you now...I know you don't." Nathaniel said, "I know what he did, but I'm sure he had a reason. You didn't have to kill him." The Cousland looked back at him.

"I know."

"Don't go diggin' in the dust for things laid to rest, son. It does no one any good." Oghren interrupted.

"My father served the Hero of River Dane and fought the Orlesians! Yet our family lost everything. I came here... I thought I was going to try to kill you. To lay a trap for you. But then I realized I just wanted to reclaim some of my family's things. It's all I have left."

"They didn't let you-? ...Of course they didn't. I'm sorry, Nathaniel." Arianne managed.

"You're sorry?" he laughed spitefully, "You think that will help? You think saying you're sorry with reverse what you've done? The Howes are pariahs now, those of us left. It's all thanks to you, and now you get to decide my fate. Ironic, isn't it?"

"Ah, Commander." Varel approached, "I see you've spoken with our guest, quite the handful isn't he? Have you decided what's to be done with him?" Nathaniel's guard had apparently fetched the seneschal while they had been talking. Ari sighed and turned away, not looking at Nathaniel.

"I want him freed. He is to be allowed to take whatever he wishes from the Keep that belonged to the Howes, and leave freely." Varel was taken aback.

"C-Commander, that..." he stammered.

"That's an order." the queen snapped and walked out, Oghren and Anders in tow.

* * *

"The Commander must be informed about the Deep Roads entrance; it could be their base of operation."

"You'd have the Warden chase a rumor then, Captain? And even if it proves true, unless the Pilgrims Path is cleared by the time your army is settled they'll have nothing to eat but shoe leather."

"Garavel, Woolsey, the Commander has had a long day." Varel sighed at the two who entered the main hall.

"I have a matter to bring to your attention." Guard Captain Garavel continued, now speaking to Arianne.

"Ser, the Arling is on the brink of economic collapse-" Mistress Woolsey interrupted.

Ari whistled loudly, "Hey!" she quipped, "Slow down, one at a time. Mistress Woolsey, you first."

"Trade must flow. Merchants caravans are being systematically attacked somewhere on the Pilgrims Path. It is the only route that can reliably provision an army, feed a city and maintain civilization." the woman explained.

"The Pilgrims Path is the route I took from Denerim, correct? Through the Wending Wood?"

"Yes, Commander." Ari nodded.

"I will investigate. Captain Garavel, you're next."

"The Orlesians- Wardens- I mean, began gathering information while they were here. The most promising lead they found was a wild tale a couple of hunters told. These hunters, Colbert and... well, the other one, claim they have stumbled across an entrance to the Deep Roads. Darkspawn all over the place they said. And this was before the fiends appeared throughout the whole Arling. The Wardens were just about to send someone to track down Colbert." he said.

"Do you know where this Colbert is?" the queen asked.

"Colbert and his friend are in the city of Amaranthine, probably amongst the refugees outside of the city gates."

"All right. Varel, anything to add to my workload?"

The man chuckled, continuing mercilessly, "Orlais sent a dozen Wardens to the Vigil to await your arrival. Nearly all died in the attack, but Kristoff is still in the field. The Orlesian Wardens were uneasy that the darkspawn weren't going underground when the Blight ended. Kristoff was sent to track down some leads. A fortnight ago he left in a bustle, as best we figure, he went to the city, Amaranthine."

"Great." Ari grumbled. She turned and walked to the door, "Anders, Oghren, grab your packs, let's go for a stroll through the woods."


	3. Into the Woods

Arianne was used to travelling, having spent quite a few months on the road during the Blight, and Oghren had been with her for some of it so he knew how things worked. Anders, however, was remarkably squeamish for an apostate. He jumped at every little noise and frequently complained.

It took them until late afternoon to find any sign of disturbances along the road. Rather suddenly, there were destroyed caravans lining the path. Many were on fire, but showed little fire damage. They had been ripped apart by something, something big.

"We are turning around now, right?" Anders asked.

"Not a chance. Someone thinks they can get away with attacking my merchants, they're dead wrong. Be ready, whatever they are, looks like they can do quite a bit of damage." Ari said, drawing her blades. The mage just sighed.

"Oh, goody."

The three of them continued cautiously, weapons drawn. Coming around a corner, the queen held out her hand to keep the other two back.

"Wh- what is it?" Anders whispered. She didn't answer, just stared ahead, stunned. The man leaned over to look and saw why. There was a group of men, looters, running from a burned tree. Anders did a double take, they really were running from a tree, its trunk had split and formed arms and legs and it was chasing the men angrily.

"I think we found what did that damage and who set the fire, but... what did the merchants do to incur the wrath of the trees?" Arianne wondered, not sure who to help if she should help anyone at all. The looters ran off to the group's right and the trees followed. A few seconds later a man came into view from directly ahead, completely terrified. The queen stepped out and stood in his path.

"Out of my way! I need to get out of here!" he shouted frantically.

"What's going on here?" Ari demanded.

"It doesn't matter; I just need to get out of here!"

"Shut up and cooperate. What happened to the caravans?" The man flinched and looked around nervously.

"I don't know! We heard about the caravan attacks, but it wasn't us, I swear! We just thought there would be valuables left behind, but then-" The looter's words were cut off by a weird rustling sound. He froze, panic clear on his face, "Maker help me, she's here! Got to get away!" He shoved his way past the three Wardens and booked it into the woods. The rustling grew in volume and Ari's attention was drawn to a ledge to their left. Gnarled roots burst out of the ground in a cocoon shape. They parted suddenly to reveal an elven woman, wisps of magick swirling around her hands. Her eyes were full of pure hatred, but confusion flashed through them for a second when she saw Ari and company.

"Another scavenger here to pray on the misfortune of others? No, you are too well armed. Here for me, then." She shook her head and laughed spitefully, "You will not drive me from these forests. The shems could not do it, the darkspawn could not, and you will fare no better." Arianne calmly loosened her blades.

"Are you the one attacking my merchants?"

"_Your_ merchants? You command them?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Well no, not specifically, but they were supplying my city and, technically, living in my country. But where are my manners... Andaran atish'an, falon. My name is Arianne; I am from Keeper Lanaya's clan." Ari greeted. The elf just looked at her, her eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"You- What? You aren't elven! How could you-? ...Wait. Are you the one Keeper Zathrian spoke of at the last Arlathvhen?" she stammered.

"That's very likely, if Keeper Zathrian spoke of any human at all, it would be me, I guess. Unless he was saying something bad..." the queen said.

"It doesn't matter. Your kind have been hounding me for months! You killed my friends, and your merchants kidnapped my sister! The caravans are only the beginning. I want Seranni returned to me or... or more will die. Deliver this message!" The elf raised her hands, "Consider this a warning." she said and roots burst up around her. When they sank back into the ground, she was gone.

"Alright, we discovered the attacker! ...Can we go back now?" Anders moaned.

Arianne ignored him, for the most part, "I don't get it... Why would merchants kidnap someone? Bandits? I could see it, but not merchants." she said. Oghren burped.

"Maybe they saw something they liked? I know I didn't." The queen just sighed.

"Come on, I think I see the top of an aravel up there, let's go see what we can find out." she said, pointing up past the ledge where the elf had been standing. They circled around the hill and found the path leading up. Following it, they found the remnants of a Dalish camp, strewn with discarded weapons. Swords, shields and bows that you might see a merchant's bodyguard or perhaps bandits carrying.

"Don't these Dalish elves travel in packs? What's with the tiny camp?" Oghren asked, "And here- looks like there was a bit of a fight, but no bodies, just all these weapons. Something smells here, Commander, and it isn't me"

"Really? Are you sure about that?" Anders sniped. Arianne began exploring the rest of the camp while the two bickered, and, finding nothing, she led them further into the woods past it.

"Could have sworn that fly was buzzing again." the dwarf grunted indifferently.

"_'HAR! Let me tell you about my life in one word!'_" With that, Anders belched loudly.

"_'Oh no! Don't take me back to the tower! I'm far far too delicate!'_" Oghren imitated back.

"_'I'm not only a dwarf, I'm a moron! Listen to me fart!'_"

"_'Oh no, big Templar man! What are you going to do with that sword?'_"

Anders fell into a shocked silence for a few seconds, "...Eww." he finally managed.

"Don't play with fire unless you want to get burned, son." Oghren smirked, triumphant.

"Hush, you two, I hear something." Arianne said suddenly, hands poised over her daggers. Her mind buzzed with the familiar feel of nearby darkspawn, but it was faint. As if they were far off. Oghren and Anders tensed, looking around. There was shuffling and a painful moan from ahead of the group and, stumbling into view, was... what looked almost like a darkspawn. As soon as it noticed the three Wardens, it shuffled back, attempting to hide itself.

"Don't look, don't look at me!" it choked out. On closer inspection, it was a man, being quickly overcome by the taint.

"Who are you?" Ari asked, eyes somber.

"Olaf, my name. Came with friends to... to drive out... away the elf. But... the darkspawn were too quick." he explained haltingly, "We were ripped apart... Biting claws and teeth from the darkness. And... then I woke. Flesh and bone and gristle under me... around me. Everyone dead... dead soft meat melting into the ground. I... I crawled away... came here. Can't stand to... see it."

"Do you know what happened to the elves?"

"No. No. Darkspawn came first. They slaughtered us... took our steel. Brought it to the elven camp. Tricked us, tricked the elf. Now... she thinks we are to blame. Hunts all in her rage... while they watch." Olaf shuddered.

"So all these people died over a... misunderstanding? Maker... that's horrible! We have to stop her, tell her she's wrong!" Anders exclaimed, "Do you think she's back at her camp? We could try looking for her there."

"The dark ones are curious about you too." the tainted man continued eerily, "They watch you as well as her. Can you feel them?"

"They're watching us?" the queen asked, glancing around, "Why? And what happened to the elf's sister?"

"Sister? I... have a sister... do I? Elf-sister, no... we did not take her. Probably dead. Or eaten." the man managed before convulsing in pain.

"This disease will kill you." Ari said gravely.

"Am already dead. Am already gone. Make... make an end... please." Ari nodded and drew one of her daggers. She quickly put him out of his misery.

"You just...! There must have been something we could have done!" Anders protested.

"I truly wish there had been, Anders, but he was too far gone to the taint to try making him a Grey Warden, not that I could have out here. He would have either died a long painful death, or become a shriek." the Warden said gently. Anders bit his lip and averted his eyes, only to snap them back up seconds later when an arrow whizzed by his shoulder, embedding itself into a tree trunk behind Arianne. They instantly had their weapons out and turned to face the oncoming darkspawn, "How-? They felt so far away!?" Ari exclaimed. It was only a small group, and easily dealt with, but the ambush shook the Wardens.

"I barely felt a thing!" Oghren belched, pulling his war axe from the skull of a hurlock.

"I knew there were darkspawn here, but it felt like they were a ways away. These aren't normal darkspawn, apparently." the queen said. She knelt beside one of the larger Hurlocks and saw something strange in its hand. Prying it loose, she saw a carved ironbark trinket, clearly elven, inlaid with silver.

"Hey, maybe that belongs to the elf or her sister." Anders pointed out.

"Then we gotta find her again. Great." she snarked back.


	4. No Easy Answers

As they rounded back towards the Dalish camp, the elf walked out onto a ledge high above them.

"Why are you still here? I told you to stay away from me, I warned you! This place is not for you!" she screamed.

"The humans didn't kidnap your sister; they didn't kill your people!" Ari immediately shouted back, hoping that would make the elf pause. It didn't.

"I know a human crime when I see it! I have experienced more than enough of them." She said, "You will pay for repeating their lies." She issued magick from her hands and ran back, towards her camp. The trees surrounding Arianne and her companions creaked and shook. Large cracks ran up their trunks and split apart, forming misshapen legs and arms.

"How the hell are we supposed to kill _trees_?" Ari cursed, drawing her blades. She darted up to one and sliced at its leg, trying to run out of its range again after. The creature... moaned? Stomping its feet, it tried to squish her.

"Watch out!" Anders called and flung a fireball at its head. The leaves caught instantly and the tree was engulfed in flame in mere seconds. Anders laughed, screeching a second later when another tree nearly flattened him. Oghren swung his axe down on its outstretched arm repeatedly, chopping it up into pieces. The tree that was on fire was running around, rather frantically, and caught the last one up in the conflagration. Finally they had all fallen and the Wardens went to follow the elf, getting out of the area as fast as they could. She was waiting just past the ruined camp, standing before a few shallow graves.

"You... you will never take me alive!" she gasped, the extent of her magick use severely depleting her mana.

"I'm not going to kill you-" Ari started, before being cut off by the elf.

"I will not go with you to some... shemlem magistrate. I won't bow to their rules." she snapped.

"Enough! Your sister was kidnapped by darkspawn, our enemy is the same. The darkspawn have changed, they attacked your people and the humans, kidnapped your sister and planted the humans weaponry here to take themselves out of the equation. You reacted just as they thought you would and attacked any human that passed through here." the queen explained, "As proof, I found this trinket on a darkspawn." She tossed the necklace to the elf.

"This... this is Seranni's. She would never willingly part with this; our mother gave it to her before she died." she revealed, after a moment. Her shoulders sagged in defeat, "Why would the darkspawn do this?"

"I'm not sure what they're planning yet. But you can be damn sure I'll find out."

The woman turned around, "You have no reason to trust me, but let me come with you. I will not abandon my sister to them."

"Of course, I will do everything I can to help her." Arianne promised, knowing the horrors of what happened to females captured by darkspawn.

"You... you want to help her? W-why?"

"Let's just say that women taken by darkspawn have much worse a fate ahead of them than you can imagine. I wouldn't leave anyone to suffer that." Ari said.

"Thank you. Perhaps I... misjudged you." the elf said, "My name is Velanna, if you care for such things. Do you know where the darkspawn might dwell?"

"Great, another twitchy magic sort." Oghren grunted, ignoring her question.

"Oh hush, Oghren, you've dealt with enough mages before." the queen chuckled, then looked back at Velanna, "Tunnels or caves, most likely."

"There is an abandoned mine some ways to the north of here; the tunnels run far into the earth." she said, pointing, "We will likely find the darkspawn there."

Arianne shuddered involuntarily, "Maker, I hope these caves don't go into the Deep Roads. I've had enough of those for multiple lifetimes."

"Um... didn't the Captain say that there was a possible entrance that we were supposed to check out?" Anders asked, pointedly.

"Shush, I'm trying to repress that memory."

* * *

Arianne's eyes fluttered open. Instantly she tensed, feeling restraints on her arms and legs. She pulled at them slightly, gauging their strength, and was stopped by a voice.

"So you are the Commander of the Grey Wardens." it whispered, speech slurred, making it sound like it didn't have full control over its lips, "Do not be frightened, your injuries have been tended to."

The queen looked to where the voice was issuing from and jumped, straining at her bonds. Over her, stood a darkspawn. It's pale, diseased skin was drawn tightly over its misshapen bone structure. Large, fish-like eyes, characteristic to emissaries, were hidden completely behind a gold colored mask. Arianne squinted, trying to get a better view as her vision began to swim.

"I apologize for what I must do. I do not wish to be your enemy." it spoke again, "But now is not the time for this. Rest." The words dripped with magick and Arianne couldn't keep her eyes open. Her head fell back against the cold slab and she lost consciousness.

* * *

Her whole body hurt. Groaning, she sat up slowly, "Commander? Oh thank the Maker..." Anders sighed, coming over, dressed in nothing but his smallclothes.

"Where are we?" Ari asked.

"A dungeon, somewhere." Oghren grunted, "That darkspawn put us in here."

"That darkspawn? Shit... why would darkspawn capture us? Velanna and I, I can understand, but you two as well?" Standing, the queen went over to the cell door and got a better look around. A door across the room opened and in stepped a woman. Her skin was pale and bruising, and underneath her blonde hair, her ears thinned to points.

"Seranni!" Velanna exclaimed, "Oh creators, what have they done to you?"

"They haven't done anything. I... I'm fine, Velanna. It's not me he wants." The woman replied, "I have to get you out before something bad happens. I don't want anyone else to be hurt."

"Yes, all right. Let me out and I'll take you home."

Almost ignoring her, Seranni continued to Arianne, "The darkspawn have your things. You can still get it all back if you're careful and clever." She glanced back at the door she had come in through, "They're going to come to check on you, you have to hurry!"

"Who is 'he'? Please, I need to know everything!" Arianne asked quickly.

"I don't know anything. The emissary hasn't told me anything yet." Footsteps echoed from past the door and Seranni backed away after pressing the cell door's key into Ari's hand, "They're coming! You have to go, find a way out of the mines, please!"

"I can't just leave you! Seranni, wait!" Velanna called after the retreating elf. She disappeared as quickly as she had come in and a few darkspawn came in. Arianne unlocked the door before the spawn saw them and ushered the others out of the cell. Preparing themselves for an interesting fight, with no clothes and no weapons, The Wardens and Velanna preempted the fight. The darkspawn were caught by surprise and didn't have time to draw their weapons.

Arianne and her companions fought their way through the tunnels and found the darkspawn that had their equipment. The first one ran past them swinging Oghren's battle axe around like a child with a new toy. Oghren reacted as anyone would expect.

"Hey! That's _mine_!" he shouted, "That ...thing has my things! It's got it's sallow, clammy hands all over my doo-dads, touching my junk!" It noticed them and began to wander in the opposite direction, "No one touches Oghren's junk and lives!"

After finding, and defeating, all of them, the group stumbled into a large cavern. The emissary was on one of the balconies ringing what looked like some kind of arena. Standing beside him was a tainted dwarven woman and Seranni. The darkspawn glanced at Seranni who averted her eyes slightly. The dwarf turned away once she saw us and exited through a natural tunnel behind the three. The emissary ushered Seranni out after her and summoned its mana, casting the energy at the ceiling. The loosened rocks fell, blocking the exit.

Arianne almost shouted in frustration. She had been so close to figuring something out but it had slipped away.

"No! Why is she with that monster? We must get to her!" Velanna vociferated.

The queen glanced back at where the emissary had been, "We will. Whatever this thing is planning, it may have something to do with my son and fury from a two-month-old mother, hell hath no."

"They're darkspawn. They'll head underground to the Deep Roads, they always do." Oghren said.

"The home of the children of Stone, yes..." Velanna muttered, "They say Wardens can sense darkspawn even deep beneath the ground. I would join the Grey Wardens. Give me the ability to hunt down these monsters in the Deep!"

"Velanna. Being a Grey Warden is not as simple as that. ...Actually, it's just not simple at all. The Joining itself could kill you."

"At the very least, it's hard to get the taste out of your mouth for a few hours." Anders put in.

"I am not afraid of death. I will pledge my services to you in exchange for the powers your order can grant. What say you?" the elf pushed.

After a pause, Arianne agreed, "Very well, Velanna. Welcome to the Grey Wardens."


	5. Dragged in Again

Arianne and her companions stopped at the Keep on their way up to the City of Amaranthine. They were about to investigate the next item on the Commanders list, finding Kristoff. After having Velanna's Joining, they departed again and half a day into the journey, the group was stopped by none other than Nathaniel Howe. As soon as Ari saw him, she took a deep breath and nodded to him, intending to pass without saying anything. What could she say?

"Wait, I want to talk to you." he said. She shut her eyes, painful memories resurfacing in her mind.

"Don't look now, but I think the bird's come flying back." Anders quipped good-naturedly.

Nathaniel continued as if the mage hadn't spoken, "You set me free. Just let me go, despite what I said or what I might do. I want to know why."

"Regardless of what happened between our fathers, we used to be friends. Is that not reason enough?" the queen said, continuing to face away from him.

"I see." The Howe paused for a moment and Ari almost took a step to walk away, "Take me with you. Make me a Grey Warden."

She stopped, "What?" she asked, turning around, "Nate, that..."

"I have nowhere to go. I fully expected to die in there, maybe I even wanted to. But you let me go." he pressed, "Make me a Grey Warden. Let me try, _please_."

Ari smiled softly to herself, "Alright, but if the Joining kills you, I'll be very disappointed."

"In your future, I sense a knife in the back. Just saying!" Anders shook his head slightly.

* * *

Upon entering the local inn, the Crown and Lion, the group was bombarded with the sound, and stench, of a lively tavern. Men filled the tables and sang drunkenly, while others nursed their mugs in somber, perhaps drunken, silence. Velanna glowered, very quickly becoming the center of attention due to her Dalish raiments, some of the attention was not so friendly and she threatened to set someone of fire. Ari quickly pushed past the mob and approached the barkeep.

"Do you know a Grey Warden named Kristoff?"

The man regarded her suspiciously, "And who are you supposed to be that's asking?"

"I would be his Commander." Ari answered with a laugh. He jolted to attention, apparently knowing that being the Commander of the Grey meant the brunette in front of him was also the Queen of Ferelden.

"Oh! W-Welcome, my lady!" he stammered, "Haven't seen that fellow Kristoff for almost a week now. Not sure where he went. His rooms paid up to the end of the month. I guess he expected he'd be here a while."

"Did you ever speak with him?"

"No, he chatted with my girl, Tara, a bit. As far as I know, she was the only one he spoke to." The man glanced around for 'Tara' but didn't see her.

"Hmm... I'm going to need the key to Kristoff's room." the queen said.

"Of course! Here you go. If he comes back and gets upset, however, it's on your head." He noticed something over Ari's shoulder and beckoned, "Tara! Over here, wench!"

The girl in question extracted herself from the group she had been serving and rushed over, "Yes?" There was a slight bite to her tone, as if she didn't like being summoned like that.

"Show these fine Grey Wardens up to that fellow Kristoff's room, then get back down here and do your job!" the barkeep grunted. She set her tray down and bowed to them politely.

"You're Grey Wardens?" the girl chatted as she led them up the stairs, "Are you friends with Kristoff?"

"Not really, I'm more of his commanding officer. Not that I've even met him either." Ari said, "You talk to him a lot?"

"Yes, he would often drink here and he was friendly. He wasn't one of those men that are destructive drunks or the ones that like to get a little too close."

"Did he ever mention why he was here?"

"He said he was looking for a group of darkspawn that was raiding near here. He said something odd was going on because they weren't trying to be secretive. As if they were trying to be caught or chased." Tara explained.

"Something odd indeed..." Arianne mused to herself. Coming up to the door to Kristoff's room, Tara bowed again and smiled, scampering back down to the tavern. The group glanced around in the room and saw, fairly easily, the large map of Amaranthine pinned to the far wall. There was a large circle and a few scribbled notes around an area Nathaniel identified as the Blackmarsh. They returned to the Keep to supply themselves and Ari persuaded a grumbling Varel to help with Nathaniel's Joining. Nathaniel Howe was now officially a Grey Warden.

* * *

"Yikes, this place gives me the creeps..." Ari mused more to herself. They had travelled for two days, reaching the Blackmarsh on the morning of the third. Or it may have been the afternoon, or even night, it was hard to tell. The area was darkly clouded by thick fog and had an overall eerie aura. Anders stepped close behind the queen, even more jittery than he was in the Wending Woods.

"My father used to tell me stories about the Blackmarsh when I was young." Nathaniel said, "Do you remember, Commander? He told one in Highever once, though that was a very long time ago. He said evil magic killed everyone here. This was just before the rebellion, a great mystery at the time."

"What kind of 'evil magic' could have caused this?" Anders wondered, shivering.

"They never found out what happened here. Once the monsters appeared, the marsh was abandoned."

"M-monsters?" the mage tucked himself even further behind Ari. Nathaniel smirked ever so slightly.

"Oh yes, _monsters_. Although, they say that the _ghosts_ here are far more terrifying than the monsters. I heard a tale of how rumor had it that the village had returned somehow and so, many _adventurers_ went to investigate. All of them disappeared. A few weeks later, their bodies were found strung up in the trees of the glade we passed earlier-"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Anders wailed, covering his ears, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening!"

Arianne chuckled, "Oh stop teasing the poor man, Nate, if I remember correct... _You_ used to be terrified of ghosts."

"Please don't make up things like that... I was never afraid of ghosts." Nathaniel rejected instantly.

"Oh sure, and who was it that was shivering uncontrollably when Fergus and Thomas said there was a ghost in the armory? Who was it that didn't step foot in there for a _year_?"

"Say what you like. Maker forbid I ruin your fantasies." the archer sighed and turned his attention to the path ahead of them, "If someone had told me I'd end up here, I would have laughed at them. But times change. When I was in Kirkwall, I thought I would return to Ferelden to take command of my father's garrison. Now here I am a Grey Warden and fighting both darkspawn and demons. Interesting."

"Welcome to my life." Ari deadpanned, earning a subdued chuckled from Nathaniel.

"Speaking of your life... I've been wondering, Commander, is this travelling similar to what it was like during the Blight?" Anders asked, rather suddenly.

"Huh? Ah, yeah, I guess. We were a slightly larger group and we had a few more enemies than just the darkspawn."

"But... with all the fighting... That didn't really give off a very ..._romantic_, uh, mood, right?"

"So that's what you were getting at. You're wondering about how I fell in love with my husband?" Ari smiled at the younger man, "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you but it's not very exciting. Alistair was there for me. He was the only other person who understood my situation, as a Grey Warden, and was wholeheartedly on my side. There was much more to it but that's all I'll say for now, because we have a haunted marsh to investigate."

"Ugh, finally!" Velanna exclaimed. Arianne chuckled a final time before leading the group further into the murk. They explored the ruins of the village, fighting their way through wolves that were twisted by the taint. There were dead darkspawn corpses littering the path and the Wardens were now convinced that they were in the right place.

"Commander, look at this." Nathaniel called. He was kneeling in front of a broken bookshelf, holding a few papers delicately in front of him. Arianne hopped over the crumbling wall and came up next to him. The entry he was pointing at read;

_Some years ago, a dragon rampaged through the countryside, gorging herself on animals and people. Before long, she nested near the village of Blackmarsh. Fearing she would drag off villagers to feed her young, we sent men to drive the beast away. The men were never seen again._

_The new baroness had till then done little for her people. but she emerged from her manor and told us not to worry-she'd been sent from Orlais not just to rule, but to protect. She promised the dragon would be gone by sundown the next day._

_She set off in the morning, alone. We were certain she'd gone insane. What chance had one woman against a dragon? At sundown there came a loud clap, like thunder, so great it shook the earth. Then our baroness returned to us, triumphant; of the dragon, there was no sign._

_The baroness, no longer aloof, sang and danced with the lowest of us. There were dark whispers that the baroness was a witch, but we did not care. Her magic had saved us, and for that we loved her._

"Wow, that's... odd... Listen to this one; it talks about how this guy was paid to give the 'baroness' young girls. It sounds like she was working some kind of blood magic to keep herself young..." Anders said after Ari had read the excerpt out loud. The queen glanced over at the walls surrounding what had more than likely been the 'baroness's' manor. She left Nathaniel to his bookshelf and started to climb the wall.

Dropping onto the other side, she almost fell straight into a hastily dug hole in the ground. Lying inside was a battered journal, half covered by dirt. Arianne carefully flipped through the pages, "You weren't far off, Anders... Actually you were spot on, Listen;

_The Veil is weak near the stone circle. Perhaps it's my rituals, but I suspect it has always been weak here. I feel traces of old, ancient magic. Maybe this is what drew me here. I think the girls feel it too._

_As we approached the circle, they sensed something was wrong. With me? Did they fear me? Something about this place is changing them, claiming them for its own._

_It is conceivable that using their blood to reinvigorate me traps their souls in the Fade. Perhaps they become the same demons, ghosts, spirits who invade my dreams. I-no, it doesn't matter. They are nothing-peasants!-while I am a Baroness of Orlais._"

The group fell into silence for a moment and Arianne swallowed, "Well, I guess it's happening again..."

"Huh? What's happening again?" Oghren asked.

"I'm getting dragged into something that has nothing to do with what I'm supposed to be doing. _Again_." she chuckled, climbing back over the wall, "Come on, let's go check out this 'stone circle'." Exiting the village, they found a small camp, wedged cleanly on a small area of rock mostly surrounded by marsh. The Wardens surmised that it had been Kristoff's camp but it was Nathaniel who noticed that the camp had been set up for two people, instead of one.

"Was Kristoff travelling with someone?" Anders asked.

"Varel didn't say anything about a second person, but perhaps it's another Warden?" Arianne replied. They kept going but instead of finding the stone circle, they were stopped by decidedly gross sacs of... something. Arianne held a hand in front of the others, the familiar buzz telling her there were darkspawn nearby.

"Is this stuff darkspawn corruption?" Nathaniel asked, being careful not to touch the oozing globs.

"It looks similar, but... It's not the same-" Ari began.

Suddenly, the sacs jerked and shuddered, making everyone jump, "S-sodding ancestors!" Oghren swore. The sacs burst open with a squelching noise and large bug-like creatures crawled out.

"Creators! What are they!?" Velanna screeched, setting one on fire.

"I think... they're darkspawn!" Arianne called back. They killed all of the things quickly and burned the sacs from whence they came.

"A new form of darkspawn? But this isn't even a Blight!" Anders said.

"I don't get it either... But I don't feel darkspawn nearby anymore. We should still be on our guard, we don't want them sneaking up on us."

Just past the sacs was a body. It looked like it had been dead for a day at least and was decked out in Grey Warden regalia. Arianne knelt beside the man and tensed.

"Yes, that is your Grey Warden." the voice of a darkspawn issued from behind them, "The Mother told it to me that if he was lured to this place, and slain, that in time you would come. And the Mother, she was right. The Mother is always right."

Ari slowly stood, "Another talking darkspawn. Just who is this 'Mother'?"

"The Mother is she that sent me, she that wished you to come. To here, this place." It said, "I... here before you is the First, and I am bringing to you a message. The Mother, she is not permitting you to further his plan, whether this you know or not. So she is sending you a gift."

The creature held out its hand, seeming to summon some kind of magick. Before any of the Wardens could react, they were frozen by the spell. Ari struggled to stay awake as the magick overcame her defenses.

A deep, pained voice, somewhere to her left, called out as she fell unconscious, "No!"

All went black...


	6. Fade to Black

"What the-?" Ari started, groaning as she struggled to her feet. Her vision seemed fuzzy around the edges and her surroundings had the twisted look she remembered all too well from her escapades in the Fade.

"No! We have come to the Fade as well? It cannot be this!" the darkspawn that had called himself 'The First' spat.

"Uh-oh, seems like _someone_ was considered expendable." the queen said.

"Darkspawn are never anything else." a new voice added. A man in Grey Warden armor stepped up beside Arianne. He had short, dark brown hair and the makings of a beard, two large scars marred his face. Before Ari could say anything, the First continued.

"The Mother, she has deceived me! I am betrayed! Now I am being trapped in the Fade with you! Ah, I am the fool!" It shook it's head, "No! I am the First! I am not being 'expendable!' Both the Grey Warden and the Mother shall be learning this!" it said. More of the grub darkspawn crawled up, "I will be leaving you to the Children. I will be finding my own path back into the world! Back to the Mother!"

The queen decided to kill darkspawn first and ask questions later. Their group easily dealt with the couple grub things with the aid of the apparent Warden. Once finished, he slung his greatsword onto his back and turned to Ari. He regarded her for a few seconds, "Why are you here?" he finally grunted.

"Uh, well, I happen to be the highest authority regarding darkspawn in Ferelden at the moment and I think I should be asking you that question, among others." Ari bantered. The man scowled and turned away.

"You are the queen then?" he sighed, "I had hoped... Nevermind." He turned to face her again and knelt, "I am Hale. Senior Grey Warden of Orlais, come to replenish the Warden ranks in Ferelden."

"You... don't really sound Orlesian." Arianne pointed out.

"I am not. I am originally from Amaranthine."

"Well, nice to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances. Why were _you_ here? We were told that the Warden Kristoff was investigating the darkspawn in this area but there was no mention of you." she asked.

"I was assisting Kristoff after he came to me for help. He... said the darkspawn were acting strange. When we got here we were ambushed by the talking darkspawn and Kristoff was killed. The creatures thought I was dead as well and left to wait for your arrival. I, only wounded, crawled into hiding, hoping to prevent this turn of events. However, I fell unconscious and awoke again too late." Hale explained.

"And now we're all stuck in the Fade, lovely." Anders sighed.

"Wait, what did you say? The Fade? We're in the Fade? That's where humans dream isn't it?" Oghren exclaimed.

"Yes?" Ari replied.

"Dwarves shouldn't be here! We don't dream, we sleep like the stone!"

"Calm down, Oghren, we'll be getting out of here soon."

"And what happens to my body while I'm here?" he continued, "Someone could outrage my modesty! What little's left of it... Sod..."

"Speaking of which, how _are_ we supposed to get out of here?" Nate asked.

"Good question..." the Commander said, glancing around. Their surroundings appeared to be a twisted Fade version of the Blackmarsh with what looked like the walls of the town a little ways ahead of them. A child's laughter floated around the group. Ari sighed and shook her head, recognizing it, "I should be the one protecting you, shouldn't I?"

As she looked around to find the source, the boy she was looking for ducked out from behind one of the strange Fade trees. He giggled again and clapped his hands over his mouth, a look of mischief on his face. Seconds later he disappeared, leaving everyone else but Arianne bewildered.

"Who... was that?" Anders asked.

Ari just looked at him and grinned, "Come on, it looks like there's only one path, so let's follow it!"

They wound their way through the marsh and found the path leading them directly up to the gates of the village.

"Halt! Who enters the Blackmarsh?" the guard called.

"We are Grey Wardens, trapped here. This is the Blackmarsh?" Ari asked, confused.

"This is... I don't know where this is. We've been here so long, at _her_ mercy. I almost forget what it was like, before." he said, "You say you are trapped? Then you are just as we are, locked in this endless nightmare. There is a spirit that's come to free us. Perhaps you could help him? If only that were possible..." The man started to wander off as he finished speaking, as if he had forgotten he'd been talking. The Commander shared a look with her companions and continued through the gates. The village fit the structure of the ruins they had explored before, only it now appeared to be a bustling town. Perhaps 'bustling' was the wrong word. The villagers milled about with a glazed look in their eyes and it didn't look like any of them were going anywhere specific. Just past a group of houses, stood another wall. This one was surrounding a large mansion and there was a big commotion at the gates.

"The mansion will not protect you, fiend! Come out and face your crime!"

A group of armored citizens stood, ready to batter the gates down, with a spirit in full armor at their head.

"We aren't afraid of you any longer!" someone cried.

"The witch hides! Break down the door!"

The spirit held up a hand, "Be cautious, my friends. The baroness has power within her lair, and she well knows it. We rush in at our peril." He turned and noticed Ari and company, "And who comes now? More minions of the baroness? Or yet more helpless souls she has tormented?"

"We are Grey Wardens. And we're just trying to figure out what in the Maker's name is going on with this marsh." the queen snarked.

"I cannot say what a 'Grey Warden' is, but clearly you are a stranger. Perhaps it is a sign." His stance relaxed a little, "I am Justice. I have watched this place and seethed at the wrongs visited on these poor folk, and now I seek to aid them."

"Once, we lived in the real world, and the baroness rule over us. She took our children and used their blood to work dark and evil magic." one of the warriors explained, "And when we burned down her mansion, she cast one final spell that brought our spirits here. We have been trapped ever since, still under her rule."

"This spirit knows the Fade. If we help him, he might help us in turn." Nate muttered to Ari.

"We have no quarrel with this baroness. I suggest we move on and leave these people to their business." Velanna said.

"The baroness sounds powerful. Perhaps powerful enough to send us back." Hale grunted.

"Tell me, stranger, will you help us in this righteous task? Being a Grey Warden appears to make you an able sort, and thus your aid would be most welcome." Justice asked, drawing Ari's attention back.

"Of course, I would be glad to help." she responded instantly.

"Your Majesty-" Hale began, but was cut off by Anders.

"They just said she was an evil, powerful witch! Do we really want to antagonize her?"

"And leave her alone to stew in her own madness until she finds a way back to the real world again? I'd rather not set _that_ loose on Amaranthine." Anders gulped.

"Point taken."

"Did you have something to add, Hale?" The Commander turned.

"If the baroness was powerful enough to send all these people here, she can send us back. Helping this spirit only destroys perhaps our only chance to return. Utilizing blood magic or not, we must find a way back." he said.

The queen was silent for a moment, "Have you heard of Soldier's Peak, Senior Warden?"

"The previous Warden base in Ferelden. Taken from us because Warden-Commander Sophia Dryden went against the King."

"Yes. When King Arland's forces attacked the Keep, she had her Wardens resort to blood magic and summon demons to aid them. At the end of the battle, the King's men lay dead. But so did the Wardens. You cannot ever trust blood magic to work in your favor, in the end." Arianne said, forcefully.

"And yet we are aiding a demon."

"You don't like me much, do you?" she sighed, "_Spirits_ are different than demons, as I have learned, now are you quite finished? If we spend too much time in the Fade our bodies will expire."

Hale inclined his head stoicly, "As you say, Your Majesty."

"Sorry about that," Ari continued to the spirit, "We're on your side."

"Then we have the numbers to challenge the baroness directly. My intention is to storm the gate. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yep."

* * *

Arianne groaned as she sat up, _Maker, how do I get myself into this crap?_ There had been a blindingly bright flash as the baroness had sundered the Veil, and now it seemed like they were back in the real world. She glanced around for a moment, "Hale?"

"Here." came the muttered reply from the underbrush to her left. He began to crawl out seconds later but was rather heavily wounded. Arianne helped him out the rest of the way and called Anders over to tend to him.

Startling the recovering group, someone else groaned. It sounded like it came from Kristoff's dead body. Sure enough, the body struggled to rise and careened about in confusion, "What... Where am I? What is happening?" it muttered, "No! This is the world of mortals, beyond the Veil! And this..." It inspected it's hands with a look of horror, "This is a mortal body of flesh! I am trapped within!"

Hale sat up, struggling against Anders, who was trying to heal him, "Kristoff!?"

Arianne regarded him warily, "The spirit of justice? How did...?"

"The witch sundered the Veil in her haste. All of us were drawn through." he said, agitated, then glanced around, "She has returned to this realm as well. Can you not feel it? The baroness is nearby."

"How? Shouldn't she be dead?" Anders wondered.

"You misunderstand." the spirit replied, "The baroness, she is not a mortal as you are or as were the villagers she kept trapped. There was such a mortal, once, but now? That is a demon of pride. She assumed that role long ago to feed from the mortals she trapped. But here in your world, here she will be quite something else."

"Joy of joys." the queen grumbled.

"I assure you, it is not." the spirit said, angrily.

"Sarcasm. Ever heard- Nevermind. What do we do now? Kill her?"

"The Veil is sundered, and the tears must be closed lest they continue to spill demons out into this world. I can close them, but if we are to deal with the baroness, we must move swiftly." he told them. The queen nodded and helped Hale to his feet, Anders had done what he could for his wounds. They moved as fast as they could, in the direction of the baroness' mansion, and closed off the portals they came across. When they reached the town, they found the baroness waiting.

"So this is the world of mortals. How very dull it seems, so immutable and unchanging. Yet... I am here!" she laughed, "I have crossed the Veil! The spirits will watch in envy as the mortals of this realm bow down before me!"

"That will not happen, demon." the spirit of justice announced, drawing Kristoff's sword.

"Ah. It seems I was not the only one to be drawn here. How very tiresome." She turned.

"Hey, how come she's here? I thought those whosiwhatsit spirits needed a body to posses, or something like that..." Oghren muttered.

"I have harnessed the power of those fools trapped in our realm for an eon! My true form has substance here! I had no idea I could enter the mortal world this way. Had I known- ah, but I am here now, yes?" the baroness said, "Soon I will be queen as this world deserves. And you... you will be the first of my subjects!"

"Sorry, this country's already got a queen, and a pretty kick-ass one, if I do say so myself." Ari snarked. The baroness summoned her magick and screamed as she transformed into an enormous Fade creature. As she was not used to the nature of the real world, her movements were slow and clumsy and she was easily defeated by the seven Wardens.

"And so it is done." the spirit in Kristoff's body said, after the baroness had burned away to nothing, "For what it is worth, thank you. I have fulfilled my vow. May the victims of that woman's madness rest in peace, wherever they have gone to now."

"What happens to you now?" Ari asked, noticing that Kristoff's body was still dead, if animated.

"It seems I cannot return to the Fade. I am trapped here, in the body of this... Grey Warden? There are memories within this poor man's mind. They are difficult to see, but... he was a Grey Warden? He was... slain by the darkspawn, the one called the First?" he explained.

"Yes." Hale answered.

At the spirit's confused look, Arianne continued, "The darkspawn are who the Grey Wardens fight."

"And that was your pursuit when you were tricked into the Fade? Yes, I understand now." He paused, "It seems I am at a loss. I know nothing of this world, and have only a few memories of this Grey Warden to draw from. I do not wish to die. What shall I do, mortal? You seem to be a creature of good character, and you are of this world. Can you advise me?"

"Ummm... You're a Fade spirit, and you don't know how to return to the Fade... Meaning you're stuck here until you can figure out how." Ari mused, more to herself, "Well, why don't you join me? You are in the body of a Grey Warden, and that way we can keep an eye on you, I mean, you are a spirit."

"You mean continue this mortal's mission? As a Grey Warden?" the spirit asked, surprised, "It was a darkspawn who murdered this mortal most ignobly, and the ones that commanded it yet live. To avenge his death... yes, that would be a purpose."

"What do you think? You knew Kristoff, didn't you?" The queen turned to Hale.

"Yes..." he said, softly, and fell silent. He closed his eyes and looked back up, "Spirit, Kristoff no longer inhabits that body?"

"No. His soul is gone, I know not where."

"Then I see no reason you should not." Hale bowed his head slightly to Arianne.

"Very well. I will join you, Grey Warden, if you will allow it." the spirit said.

"Er, what should we call you? I mean, you aren't Kristoff." Anders wondered.

"No. I have no name, only a virtue to which I aspire. If I am to need a name, then use that. I am Justice."


	7. Interlude

Part 1

Looking to the Future

* * *

After making it back to the Keep, Arianne found herself swamped by various matters of court that she had been neglecting. Varel was adamant that she hold court and host the Oaths of Fealty ceremony, which took up a great amount of time. These proceedings left little for her Wardens to do so some of them did what they could to help out around the Keep. This, in turn, aggravated Velanna and Hale, who believed being Grey Wardens, they should be out battling darkspawn, or even studying them, not doing chores. Arianne generally shut them up with, "You want to run the Arling? I didn't think so." Someone had to. Anyway, it wasn't long till Hale approached the queen about one of his fellow Wardens. As he told it, Nathaniel Howe had been sneaking off to Amaranthine whenever he got the chance and it was horribly irresponsible of him and blah blah blah and it piqued Arianne's interest. So, off they went to follow Nate to Amaranthine. Hale had refused to come, saying that he 'had better things to be doing', so it was just Anders, Oghren and Arianne. They quickly lost track of Nate and ended up getting a drink at the tavern.

"Tell me again, Commander, why are we following him?" Anders asked, sipping on his drink.

"Because Nate is a dutiful person, to a fanatical point. What could possible cause him to want to come here when the rest of our group is at the Keep?" the Commander said. Their conversation was interrupted by some drunken chatter.

"Who'd you think would win in a fight, Andraste or the Archdemon?" one man asked.

"The Archdemon."

"But Andraste could call on the Maker!"

"That would be cheating, are you calling Andraste a dirty cheater?"

"She cheated on her husband, didn't she?" The two burst into drunken laughter.

"That man has a point." Anders said, "Our society idolizes a woman who not only killed for a living, but fundamentally went against her own teachings, if we hold her to today's translations of her teachings. Does that make any sense?"

"I look at religious teachings in the same way I look at folklore, stories that could contain a grain of truth at their center, but have no real bearing on life except to children." Ari said, "But the other man had a point too, unless Andraste was a Grey Warden, she'd have no chance against old Archie."

"'Old Archie'?"

"If you can't laugh in the face of your enemies... I... don't really know where I was going with that."

"You can't drink much can you?"

"Nope." She took another swig of her drink and belched loudly as she set the mug down. Oghren responded quickly with a louder and longer one and soon involved some of the other patrons in a belching contest. Ari sat back with a smirk on her face, "People will follow you if you're on their level. If Andraste was a war leader, she probably, more often than not, drank and joined in her soldiers merrymaking after winning a battle, all the best leaders do." She set down her drink and laughed loudly, "Maker, do I sound like I know what I'm talking about or what?"

Just then, to their luck, the door to the tavern opened and who should walk in other than the point of why they had come to Amaranthine in the first place. Arianne nearly tackled Oghren to the floor to get him out of sight as Nate's eyes skimmed the tavern. Apparently too occupied to notice the woman and the dwarf fall to the floor and the mage behind them facepalm, Nathaniel took a seat at one of the empty tables near the door. The tavern waitress, Tara, made her way over quickly and the two of them chatted and laughed about something. Ari only caught the last bit of their conversation.

"-Something wrong?" Nate asked.

"Umm... that group over there is kicking up a fuss, I should go see..." the girl answered motioning to the other Wardens. Nate resisted the urge to smack his forehead as he recognized Anders, the only one still sitting at the table, who smiled and waved.

"Dear Maker, don't worry about it, Tara, I'll handle them."

Arianne, still on the floor, was trying to shush Oghren, who was trying to continue the burping contest. Nathaniel's boots suddenly came into the Commander's vision and she looked up to him looking down at her with that unamused face of his, "Oh hello, Nate, what brings you here?" she smiled. Nate rolled his eyes and looked at Anders.

"Following me?"

"Not my idea." the mage replied, "But, don't get me wrong, I was curious where you go all the time. Hard to believe you were just out drinking, but now I get it." he finished with an amused glance at Tara.

"So help me, mage..." the archer began.

"You need help with something? Well, why didn't you just ask? Maker, Nate..." the queen said.

"Commander, please get up." he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ari rolled onto her back, crossed her arms and frowned up at him, "I do what I want,_ Howe_ I want to." and dissolved into giggles.

"Aww, Commander, you stole my joke!" Anders complained.

"Maker help me." Nate groaned.

"Wait, wait, you gotta hear mine!" the mage cleared his throat, "I'm fond of the Howe's! I'm also fond of the 'why's' the 'who's' and the 'what's'!"

"How clever."

"It's shameful how long it took me to come up with that."

"You know, Nate, it almost looks like you're smiling from down here-" Ari started but was cut off by the door slamming open and a group of armed mercenaries coming in. They sat down two tables away from the Wardens and called for drinks immediately. As soon as Tara made her way over, one of them latched onto her and pulled her into his lap, trying to grope her.

"Hey!" Ari yelled from the floor, and was subsequently ignored.

Nathaniel had better luck, striding over and grabbing the man's hand, allowing Tara to move away, "Keep your hands off her." he growled. The man looked over at his companions and laughed.

"Well, look at this, men. He's got a crush." he sneered, standing, "I don't like that look on your face, boy, but I'll let it slide if you run on home to momma and leave the tavern wenches to real men."

"Real men, my boot." the queen said, having stood and planted her foot proudly on the edge of the table, "I eat little squawking chickens like you for breakfast."

"Commander, I'm trying to _avoid_ a fight..." Nate said, trying to pull her off the table.

"But that's no fun..." she pouted.

"That's it!" the mercenary leader roared angrily and grabbed Nate, practically throwing him out of the way. He picked Ari up by the front of her shirt and she replied by sticking her tongue out and spitting at him. A bar brawl ensued and ended with the mercenaries kicking up dust on their way out. Ari laughed triumphantly and turned to go sit back at their table. She was stopped by the infuriated barkeep, who proceeded to kick them out, as well as firing Tara.

"Tara, I cannot apologize enough. If we hadn't been there..." Nate began as they stood outside the tavern.

"If you hadn't been there, I'd have been raped. Simple as that." the girl laughed, "I've never liked it there anyway, I just had nowhere else to go. I wonder what I'll do now..."

"Do whatever you want! Don't dance to their tune! Why dance at all? Why not sing?" Ari suggested.

"Oghren, does this happen a lot?" the Howe asked, pointing at the Commander.

"Not nearly as much as it should!" the dwarf laughed. Nate sighed and turned back to Tara.

"Do you have anywhere to go tonight?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll figure something out..."

"Why don't you come back to Vigil's Keep with us?" Anders spoke up.

"What?"

"You know how the Commanders been griping about how few women there are, and I, for one, am inclined to agree." the young mage said with a wink at Nathaniel.

"Yeah! The only fellow woman I have to talk to is Velanna! Do you know how hard it is to get an answer out of her, any answer!?" the queen nodded, leaning heavily on Oghren.

Tara giggled, "Well, how could I turn down an offer from the Queen?"

"You really don't have to if you don't want to, but it's the least we could do. I- I'd like to be able to see you more often and we did cost you your job..." Nate said, stumbling a bit on his words.

"Oh, I'd love to, Nate." she reassured him, smiling shyly, "But I don't think we should head there now. Those two don't look like they would get very far..." She pointed at Ari and Oghren, who were strolling away, singing loudly. Nate stared after them for a few second and smacked his forehead, groaning.

Ari glanced over her shoulder at the two of them, "Why don't you two just get married and be done with it? You gotta move faster, Nate, otherwise someone will come steal her away!"

Nathaniel blushed, looking anywhere but at Tara when she glanced up at him. She laughed and took his hand.

* * *

Part 2

Stuck in the Past

* * *

The group spent the night in a different inn and, much to Ari's confusion, she awoke the next morning with a pounding headache and a very fuzzy memory of the night before. After Anders laughingly filled her in, and they had a sober conversation about Tara coming to live in the Keep, they decided to head back. Of course, as they were leaving the city, a small rock was pegged at Anders.

"Ow! What-?"

"Oy! About time you showed up." An elven woman stood in the shadows of a house to their right.

"Namaya? You're still here?" Anders asked incredulously.

The woman crossed her arms, "I keep my promises. Here, turns out you were right. The cache is here in Amaranthine." She handed the mage a folded up piece of paper.

"It is? You found it?" Anders unfolded it and saw a hastily sketched out map of where a specific building was in the city.

"I did. What you do with that information is up to you. I, for one, am done dealing with mages." Namaya grunted.

"Er, I guess I should thank you..."

"Damned right you should. You get caught, Anders, I'm not helping you again. That's all I'm saying." With that, the elf disappeared back into the shadows and was gone. Anders looked after her, conflicted, for a moment before turning back to Ari and the others.

"I... suppose that requires some explanation."

"Of course not, Anders! What makes you think that?" Ari snarked.

"Ah, I am fluent in sarcasm, you can't fool me!" He sighed and continued, "Namaya is... a friend. Last time I escaped from the tower, I asked her to look into some things. That's why I was in Amaranthine. The templars thought I'd come to take a ship, but it was to meet her."

"To find a cache?"

"During the Blight, the templars moved their store of phylacteries to Amaranthine for safety." the mage told the group, "My phylactery is among them, Namaya learned. So long as the templars have that sample of my blood, they can find me. I need to destroy it."

"Look, I completely understand that, and I'm not saying I agree with the system, but you are a Grey Warden now, the Chantry can't touch you." the queen said.

"What's to stop the Chantry from deciding that mages in the Grey Wardens are apostates too? I want to be sure they can't find me again. Ever."

Arianne sighed, "Anders..."

"You traveled for months with an apostate, it's not like being one means you use blood magic and steal little children to power your spells." he argued.

"It's not the fact that we would be making you an apostate. The Chantry probably thinks you're one already, but other than that, names are simple as that, names. What I'm worried about is by doing this, the Chantry will see it as proof that you're trying to hide something and they'll try to come after you anyway. Of course the other thing is that I'm the Queen, Anders. I'm working with Wynne and other Circle mages to make things better for the mages, but if someone saw me openly disregarding the Chantry's rules, well, a number of things could happen. But they mostly wouldn't be good." Ari explained. Anders chewed his lip and started to retort, but Ari held up a hand, "But. Investigating a suspicious house that some good citizen is concerned about harboring smugglers and finding stores of vials of blood, well, we all know that's a sure sign of a blood mage contingent, yes?"

The young mage sighed in relief, "Thank you, Commander! I know we're busy killing darkspawn and all. But the sooner we find this vial, the better I'll feel."

"Don't let me regret this, Warden."

"Commander!" a new, cranky voice called from further down the road. Velanna and Justice were making their way towards the group.

"Ooooohh, Velanna, lower the pitch of your voice..." the queen groaned, her head still pounding, "What are you two doing here?"

"Looking for you. Warden Hale seemed agitated that you had not yet returned." Justice said.

"Of course he was." Ari rolled her eyes, "Well, we've got one more thing to do here, then we'll head back."

"Also-" Justice began to continue but was stopped by Velanna.

"We're not supposed to tell her. It's supposed to be a ...'surprise'." she air-quoted boredly.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Arianne squinted at the elven woman for a moment before shaking her head, "Whatever, let's go deal with that house and we'll go." They followed the scribblings on the map and found the storehouse rather easily. Going inside carefully, they were surprised to discover it seemingly completely empty.

"No guards? Maybe they don't want to draw attention to the cache? Could we be that lucky?" Anders asked. Just then Ari passed the threshold into the back of the building.

"Not in this lifetime." she deadpanned.

"And here I almost believed the infamous Anders wouldn't take the bait." Standing in the corner was the templar that had accompanied Alistair when they all first arrived at the Keep. She had three others behind her, with their hands on their weapons.

"Ah. Yes, I suppose I should've known it would be you." Anders sighed, recognizing her.

"You made a poor choice with this one, Commander. Anders will never submit, not to us and not to you." Ser Rylock said.

"Well good, cause I never want him nor anyone else to _submit_ to me. Not to mention he is a Grey Warden now."

"Hardly surprising. The Grey Wardens have ever been a haven for criminals and maleficar. But I'll make sure that _this_ murderer is never a bother to anyone again."

"What? No, you can't arrest me! Both the King and Queen allowed my Conscription!" Anders protested.

"The Chantry's authority supersedes the Crown in this matter. You cannot hide within the Grey Warden ranks." the templar took a step towards him. Two things happened next almost simultaneously, first was a warning shot from Nathaniel's bow that flew past Rylock's cheek and second was Justice interposing himself between the templar and Anders. Rylock laughed, "I do not know how you inspire such loyalty, Anders, but it will avail you naught. Now you come with us."

"Not gonna happen." Ari growled.

* * *

Part 3

The Next Generation

* * *

The templars were taken care of and the group was finally free to return to the Vigil. Of course, that wasn't necessarily a good thing for their lovable dwarf. As soon as they came in the door to the throne room Ari was assaulted by a rather angry woman's voice.

"Where is he? I know he's here. Cough him up, Warden!" Felsi threatened.

"Er... you mean Oghren?"

"No, I mean my peg-legged uncle. Yes, Oghren. Where is that big bronto-tur-"

"Hold on to your beard, woman. Is this a conjugal visit? Looking for Oghren to grease the old wheel?" Oghren snickered.

"Oh, I'm exiting this conversation now!" Ari exclaimed and turned away hastily, shooing the others that had come in behind them away.

"Don't lay a finger on me! You've done a lot of stupid things on a whim, but joining the Wardens..." Felsi continued, ignoring the others.

Oghren laughed, "Didn't you say it would be... hot?"

"We were role-playing!" Ari turned back to say something, but then thought better of it.

"Look, I didn't sign up on a whim, all right? You kicked me out." Oghren grunted.

Felsi scoffed, "You were just looking for an excuse!"

"You kept trying to make me into something I'm not. I can't play house like you want me to. I'm only good at one thing, Fels, and it's killing."

"You had a good thing in the army. They respected you." she argued.

"Ahh, Felsi, I finally got the ol' conker on straight and I don't belong anywhere but here." Oghren sighed.

"Fine, Oghren, if that's what you want. The baby and I will just have to get by without you." the dwarf woman shook her head, a betrayed expression on her face, and turned and left. Oghren stared after her for a moment, then grumbled and began to walk away.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Arianne jumped back in and grabbed the warrior's arm, "Where do you think you're going? Aren't you going after her?"

"I'd just end up being hit." he sighed, "She's a tiny thing but packs a surprising wallop, and in this mood she'd go straight for my danglers." He shook his head roughly, "Come on. There's darkspawn waiting to be killed."

"Oghren..."

"Argh, sod it!" The dwarf slammed his hand against the wall, "This isn't going to make you think any less of me, is it? Ah, who cares." he groaned, "I didn't do right by Felsi and the nugget, did I?"

"Being a mother myself... No. No you didn't." Ari said.

"That's what I like about you. You're honest. Like a sock in the gut." he told her, "I think Felsi knew, even if she never acknowledged it to herself, she knew I could never settle down again. I did once and... well, you know."

"So what?"

"Huh?" Oghren glanced up at the queen in confusion.

"Who says you have to settle down and get some mundane job in order to be a father?" Ari laughed, "My son is two months old and I'm still here, fighting darkspawn and whatever else that stupidly throws itself at me. Being a Grey Warden is not really the ideal occupation of a dad but there are plenty of Wardens that have families. I don't see why you can't be a part of your child's life."

"Maybe I could visit once in a while, write some letters. That's the least I could do... as a father. And hey," He chuckled, "the little one will grow up thinking Daddy's a great hero."

Ari smiled, a smile that quickly faded as she thought about her own child. Wynne had warned her about this, that she would feel anxious about Duncan because of being parted from him so soon. Due to the hormones from being pregnant, her emotions were all over the place. She had even found herself crying once when she hadn't been actively thinking about it. She wanted to see the boy so much, but she knew she had to finish her business here first. Somehow, through the strange proceedings of Ari's mind, she remembered what Velanna had said earlier, "Hey, Velanna, what did you mean by 'it's supposed to be a surprise'?" she called over her shoulder. Just then, from outside the door, they all heard a loud wail. A baby's cry. Ari nearly flew to the door and couldn't get it open fast enough. Standing there, with his back to the door and trying to shush the squirming bundle in his arms, was Alistair. He turned and smiled goofily.

"Well, there goes my whole plan of how to surprise you."


End file.
